Un modelo de cura escritor

Any discussion of cultural identity must be set within the larger scope of the society in which the individual or the group of individuals reside. The literature on Symbolic Interactionism is relevant here because it is the theoretical framework that has been chosen for the interpretation of this study. The experience of the WOCNII is informed by the context of their professional environment and their identity is continually shaped through their social and professional interaction and the meanings that they associate with each interaction.

Blumer describes social interaction as making meaning of identity (Blumer, 1969). Drawing upon the work of George Herbert Mead, Blumer writes extensively on the process of human interaction, seeing it as always dynamic, constructing meaning through interpretation and thus actively contributing to the meaning of self through the social relations of experience. Identity and role are intimately associated through the empirical process of social relating, the reciprocity of acting while

acknowledging and taking on the perspective of others during joint action. The significance of self- indication within the process of action is framed by the surrounding environment that sets the stage for human interaction, while the self actively assigns meaning through interpretation, rather than by accepting what appears (Blumer, 1969, p. 81). Acknowledging the self within the cyclic process of communication implies an element of being proactive within the context of each human interaction.

Communication with others includes the self as an actor or a participant within each loop of communication. In this approach, the self can be thought of as the internal gatekeeper integral to each active communication, processing meaning through interpretation. The self is actively participating in communication and mediates their responses through ongoing processes of interpretation.

The three premises of symbolic interactionism are rooted in human social interaction and revolve around the self; acknowledging that the self acts deliberately toward things in the world because of meaning that it processes through association with those things, meaning comes through social interaction between individuals and that meaning derives from interpretation (Blumer, 1969). The self is central to and processes all interpretative meaning, which may be considered as the output of that interaction, but always set within a context that impacts each interpretative encounter. With each social experience, each social interaction, the self changes as it incorporates new data, processes it interpretively and then acts out based on new internalized meanings. Each social interaction is a platform for evolving empirical experience and the self is instrumental as a participant in the cycle of social action. This concept signifies the potential for being self determined with each new encounter. Likewise, on another level, groups enact this process and engage in joint action (Blumer, 1969, p. 20). This is a key conceptual framework used to make sense of identity and how it is continuously evolving through a social circuit of communication between the individuals, who in this case are the subjects of this study. This is the value of this perspective for exploring the identity.

Like Blumer, Goffman addresses the interaction of face to face communication between individuals as the ’symmetry of the communication process’ and using the language of drama, speaks of setting the stage for an ‘information game’ (Goffman, 1959, p. 8). His colorful language helps us to envision how social interaction is orchestrated. Reciprocity and symmetry or lack of symmetry, of the exchange, signals the attempt of individuals to consciously influence the way that the self is presented in social interaction, as a give-and-take with an awareness of the intent to affect meaning. The conscious effort to influence perception and project meaning lends credence to deliberateness of construction of identity. Goffman uses dramatological analogies in his descriptions of role performance and this will

be covered later in the section on role. As noted previously, identity and role are integral to one another and a discussion of one inevitably leads to implications for the other.

From the interactionist perspective, identity is socially constructed through a dialogue that works through and incorporates the world (McCall and Becker, 1990). Self and the society is derived from experience guided by a process that enables an individual to interpret meaning of social interaction in a ‘nonautomatic’ way (McCall and Becker, 1990, p. 3), by actively including the self as a participant in the flow of communications within the context of the immediate surroundings. The responses of others are considered and action is taken based upon what the individual notes within his world. The self processes meaning through interpretation of others responses and uses that to guide actions moving forward. The self is constructed over time, always changing, always evolving and acts with determined spontaneity. Depending upon the social interaction, joint lines of action may align for an enriched complexity of experience. ’Society is the process of Symbolic Interactionism’ (McCall and Becker, 1990, p. 6). The fluidity of self may be conceived as autonomous in the sense that each social interaction perpetuates a self-directedness through an interpretative process, that is displayed as self, for others to see. The self has the choice of how to interpret meaning, how to act based upon that interpretation and how to represent self to others. This is a proactive cyclic process of making meaning of the world.

Self as Social Front

In his discussion paper on the study of the self-phenomenon, Zhao (2015) proposes a revised conception of the self, drawing on early writings to configure self and how the image of self is presented through social interaction. Drawing on the writings of Charles Cooley, William James and George Mead, Zhao proposes that the self as a social front is partly a product of the meanings that are interpreted from others (Zhao, 2015, p. 242).

Zhao posits that the social front may be considered as a mirror of personal identity because it is constructed through an interpretive process during social interaction (Zhao, 2015, p. 256). The way that an individual defines their self is partially dependent upon that person’s interpretation of the way

he or she perceives what others think of him or her. This demonstrates the reciprocity of social interaction that can be broken down to a looped cycle; output of actions toward others within an environment, receipt of messages associated with actions, interpreted intake of meanings of those actions by self, and active output of responses, which trigger the ongoing cycle. Each cyclic loop of communication has the potential to alter or mold the social front, and in turn, the portrayed self. The context of the society within which an individual resides, frames the evolution of self and sets the stage for the individual to manipulate their social front with the intent to actively influence the way that others feel. In that sense, the individual is socially active in constructing the image of the self. A deliberateness of identity building is inherent within symbolic interactionism. Depending upon the interpretation, the mirror may or may not serve to promote resiliency in the face of others. Zhao proposes that to fully understand the self, an individual’s attempts to influence the attitudes of others must be examined (Zhao, 2015, p. 256). Questions must be asked, as to what is it that individuals do to influence others, how do they act and are they always conscious of opportunities to mold others’ perspectives.

As posited by Atkinson (Atkinson, 2015), the self is emergent out of the social interaction. In the tradition of symbolic interactionism, without the reciprocity of the social framework, the self lacks input of data to interpret and derive meaning. Without the social, the self remains unchanged, unresponsive and static. The human social encounter is the essence for the analysis of identity.

Context of the interaction is the basis for analysis and reveals the fluidity and responsiveness of the self as an active participant in all things social.

Relational Identity

Much of the work on identity is related to the individual as a member of a larger group or organization, however, there is a growing body of work on identity that focuses on interpersonal relationships and how they impact identity and role within occupational settings (Sluss and Ashforth, 2007). Relational identity blends the identity of person-based identity with that of the role-based identity while integrating the interpersonal relational and offers a new framework of what is termed ‘levels of self’ (Sluss and Ashforth, 2007, p. 13). Sluss and Ashforth build on earlier work to define relational identity

and identification situated within a hierarchy and to construct a rich model of classification concluding with suggestions for future research.

Like symbolic interactionism, relational identity is constructed through a continuum of social

interaction that integrates the identities of the personal, the role and their relational dimension within a feedback loop. It is a more robust version of identity that builds upon the consideration of both the personal and the role. Relational identity always considers the personal, as opposed to only the functional. Having relational identification may be thought of as a healthy ’oneness with the role- relationship’ (Sluss and Ashforth, 2007, p. 16). Relational identity implies that personal and role co- habitate for a hardy sense of self.

Frequent contact between individuals increases personalization and minimizes likelihood of stereotypical interactions. The more that two individuals see each other and interact together, the more that they come to know one another personally as opposed to seeing each other as

representative members of a larger group (Sluss and Ashforth, 2007, p. 16). This observation has implications for raising awareness and giving voice to who you are and what you do. Contact between individuals may initially evoke a role based identity but as time passes and individuals interact socially, their perception of one another may change and become person-based (Sluss and Ashforth, 2007, p. 17). Exposure to others and carving out opportunities for social interaction with others, increases personalization and may minimize marginalization. Increasing transparency of social interaction, may enhance authenticity and maximize social relations based on experience. Real world social experience breaks down stereotypes and permits opportunities for genuine relations.

Perspectives on role-relationships temper social identity theory and offer a more holistic perspective on workplace identity and identification (Sluss and Ashforth, 2007, p. 27). Individuals who are

members of a group which is not widely known may initially experience perceived tension from others who see them as part of a collective that is not known conventionally. Frequency of social interaction may serve to transcend the role and personalize the relationships. The significance of this perspective

lies in the potential to foster personalization of social interactions with the intent to influence role expectations associated with the constructs of identity and role.

In their inductive analytical study, supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Kootnz and McCabe (2015), interviewed a sample of sixty-eight university students from Midwest University in the United States. The interviews consisted of open ended questions and each two-hour interview was recorded and transcribed verbatim. Analysis allowed for identification of patterns and yielded themes about how friendship can impact both identity and role. Their purpose was to add to the evidence on identity work by studying the element of friendship as an integral part of the social network that frames the construction of the self and the process of constructing self-identity through identity talk as ’friendship talk’ (Kootnz Anthony and McCabe, 2015, p. 65). This has implications related to the importance of friends as a subset of others in boundary work and the way that identity is crafted within the framework of symbolic interaction. Much of the social communication that is between colleagues, is also between friends. That social reciprocity within the professional network, that occurs among individuals who also happen to be friends, is one vehicle for sustaining and maintaining resiliency of identity. Three strategies were identified as envisioning self, betterment distancing and situating with networks (Kootnz Anthony and McCabe, 2015). Creating identity is framed by social interaction with others, some of whom are friends, which may in turn, also offer a sense of resiliency. The next section is about the dilemmas that may be associated with identity development.

Dilemma of Expectations for Identity

Identity dilemmas are defined as possession of identities that conflict with one another and result in a loss of valued identities (Dunn and Creek, 2015, p. 261). When considering the work of identity, there always exists the potential for a discrepancy in the expectations of an individual or a group for another individual or group, at either the micro or macro level (Dunn and Creek, 2015). Discrepancy equates with the state of being incongruent and difficulties increase when the social scene involves

stratification with implicit power and authority.

Dunn and Creek coin the term, ’lag’, for the misalignment of expectations within groups (Dunn and Creek, 2015, p. 261), which becomes increasingly prevalent given the complexity of social interaction

allow for a more congruent coming together within a complex social interaction (Dunn and Creek, 2015, p. 261), although empirically it may not be possible. Unmet expectations are a product of the relational work of constructing identity and may be conceptualized as a stigma (Dunn and Creek, 2015). Once again, expectations are more likely to be met if individuals or groups foster

communication that increases exposure to one another and offers opportunities for social interaction. Misalignment of expectations in social interaction and the experience of identity dilemma is a

challenge to maintaining a sense of feeling valued about self. Making the unknown known is part of constructing identity, taking responsibility for constructing social front in the face of cultural and intersecting expectations is a process that can mature with conscious effort and with time.

Using travelers accounts, a conceptual framework for the experience of identity was examined to describe ‘the flayed self’ or the incongruent images of self; the way that an individual perceives self as compared with the perceived image of self as reflected back from others (Husting, 2015, p. 215). The flayed self is described as the image one has of self that is unlike the perceived image reflected through interaction with others. That zone that occupies the space between the self and those reflected perceived images can be a source of tension. Husting describes a phenomenon that is displayed by travelers to foreign countries and cultures that are unfamiliar and do not support the contextual native identity. It is not so difficult to expand this conceptual framework of identity to terrain that is

professionally unfamiliar. The analogy of travelers to foreign countries might be just as applicable to those who are traveling in new professional territory.

Husting draws an association between identity or who we are with location or position and where we are, drawing on the work of Tuan (1977), to relate the impact of place with sense of belonging. Using semi-structured interviews with twenty-two participants, journaling over four months from eleven of the twenty-two participants and supplemental travel blogs, an incompetent identity was described and used to create a map of the flayed self (Husting, 2015, p. 215). A sense of place as home is aligned with stability and familiarity, but it is the archive of memories and relationships that are reflected in home that are central to identity. Familiarity breeds comfort and home is associated with stability. Frequency of transparent social interactions and the act of making the unknown, a known entity, can impact the outcome of social interaction, by constructing a pattern of familiarity over time, that builds relationships where identity can thrive and be competent. Reflecting upon dilemmas that may be

associated with the construction of identity, next it is relevant to examine identity development within the context of the professional nurse.